Feuding ex-lovers may resolve TransPerfect dispute with help from one's mom

Former lovers Liz Elting and Phil Shawe came to despise each other so much that a judge ordered them to sell TransPerfect, the thriving translation company they co-founded a quarter century ago. But that didn't stop the feud. On Wednesday Shawe's mother attempted to broker peace by saying she would side with her son's ardent foe.

"This is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make," Shirley Shawe said in a prepared statement. "It is my hope that today's decision will allow the company to move forward."

Shirley Shawe proposed to break the deadlock between her son and his ex-fiancé by pledging to vote her 1% stake in favor of five boardroom candidates selected by Elting. If approved by a Delaware court, the move would tip the balance of power at TransPerfect in favor of Elting, who has a 50% stake in the Manhattan-based company. Phil Shawe has a 49% share and ceded 1% to his mother many years ago so the firm would qualify for contracts as a women-owned firm.

Shirley Shawe's decision to side with Elting comes a few weeks after the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that determined a sale of TransPerfect was the only way to resolve the fight between Elting and Phil Shawe. The pair founded the company in 1992, when they were studying at New York University, and they were engaged to be married before Elting called it off in 1997. Their fight became public in 2014, when they sued each other for mismanagement and malfeasance.

Handing over control of the boardroom to Elting would eliminate the deadlock that has long plagued TransPerfect and remove the court's rationale for ordering a sale. Courts usually order the sale of a company only when the company is in bankruptcy, but TransPerfect is the second-largest translations firm in the country, with 4,000 employees and $500 million in annual revenue.

When asked what Phil Shawe thought about his mother's plan to strike an alliance with his archrival, a spokesman replied the outcome was "better than risking the company." An attorney for Elting didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shirley Shawe made it clear she's had enough of this bizarre fight. "This has gone on for too long," she said.

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